Making (and Destroying) the Girl
by Little Kate
Summary: Lawson dares Spinelli on a full-moon Friday the 13th to go to a cemetery and stand on a grave of Thaddeus T. Third the Third at midnight. The effects are strange - very strange indeed.
1. The Dare

Title: Making (and Destroying) the Girl  
Author(s): KDWILD / Lily~Rose  
Rating: PG  
Show: Recess  
Categ: Romance/Humor  
Spoilers: "First Name Ashley", "The Experiment"  
Summary: Lawson dares Spinelli on a full-moon Friday the 13th to go to a cemetery and stand on a grave of Thaddeus T. Third the Third at midnight. The effects are strange - very strange indeed.   
  
  
A/N: Please be gentle… This is Lily~Rose's first attempt at writing Recess fanfiction… Flames are accepted, however! I've already given Lily her flame-catcher and fire-proof outfit! FIRE AWAY!!! R, R, and Enjoy! Also, we hope nobody minds that we pulled out our makeup kits!!!  
  
***This takes place BEFORE the movie, which neither of us have seen enough.***  
  
This fanfiction is the work of the hyperactive mind of KD Wild. Reading it may cause serious brain damage or heart failure. If you are not older than Mikey Blumberg, smarter than Gretchen Grundler, or tougher than Ashley Spinelli, it is suggestable that you consult your doctor before proceeding to read this fanfiction. You have been warned. © KD Wild, 2001.  
  
  
CHaPTeR oNe - THe DaRe  
  
Third Street Elementary, ten a.m. recess  
  
  
"Hey, Detweiner!"   
  
Even on a Friday morning, T.J. Detweiler had no peace from his worst enemy, Irwin Lawson. T.J. groaned, rolled his eyes, and turned to face the tall, red-haired, big-mouthed fifth-grader. Lawson was wearing that snotty grin that always made T.J. feel like having Ashley Spinelli bash his face in, knowing T.J. himself couldn't do it.   
  
"What, at the moment, do you want, Lawson?" Gretchen Grundler asked irritably, also tired of dealing with the boistrous boy.  
  
"Was I talking to you, Bucky?" Lawson snapped back. Gretchen looked appalled.   
  
"Spinelli," she whispered to Ashley Spinelli, "would you be so kind and hurt him? Badly."  
  
"Later," Spinelli grinned. "When he's asleep or Finster's not around. Whenever." Lawson stuck his tongue out at Spinelli. She scowled back, balling her fists and raising her eyebrows. Lawson took a step back and turned his attention on T.J.  
  
"You know what today is, don't you, Detweiler?" Lawson inquired.  
  
"It's Friday, Lawson. The beginning of a weekend without you around," T.J. bit.  
  
"Ooh, it really hurts, Detweiler," Lawson whined dramatically, clasping his chest. "Yeah, it's Friday, but not just any Friday."   
  
"Enlighten us," Gretchen challenged.  
  
"Well, Miss Know-It-All, I would have thought you would know what today is," Lawson returned. Gretchen pursed her lips. "It's a full-moon Friday the Thirteenth."  
  
"So?" Spinelli asked, cocking an eyebrow at him. The gang seemed to share her feeling on the subject - none of them seemed to care.  
  
"So - that's when all the ghosts and goblins come out to suck the little fourth graders' brains! Suck 'em dry!" Lawson cackled.  
  
"R-really?" Gus Griswold stammered nervously, shooting a sideways glance at T.J.  
  
"No, not really. That's just a load of whooey," Spinelli replied angrily.   
  
"Okay, well maybe that is, Spinelli," Lawson corrected himself, "but I know something that isn't a load of whooey."  
  
"Like what?" T.J. pressed.  
  
"My big sister told me," Lawson announced proudly. "She's in high school and drives a car!"  
  
"So does mine. So what?" T.J. retorted.  
  
"So - she says that if you stand on the grave of Thaddeus T. Third the Third at midnight, his ghost will come out and suck you dry," Lawson explained.  
  
"That's even more whooey than before," Spinelli muttered, shaking her head.  
  
"Maybe you won't think it's whooey if I dare one of you to do it?" Lawson challenged. Gus and Mikey Blumberg gulped. "How about you, Detweiler?" T.J. narrowed his eyes.  
  
"That's just a stupid superstition," T.J. replied.  
  
Lawson pretended to think. "Naw, I don't think you're right for the job anyway, Detweiler. After all, you don't really have anything for Thaddeus T. Third the Third to suck dry." Lawson sent out his evil cackle again.  
  
"How about you do it, Lawson?" Spinelli challenged, slightly irked by Lawson's comment on T.J.  
  
"What do I look like… dumb?" Lawson replied.  
  
"Yes," Spinelli muttered.   
  
"How about you do it, Little Miss Ashley, our tough little girl?" Lawson laughed.  
  
"Don't you know," Spinelli replied, relatively calmly although her slow burn was speeding up, "that if you play with fire, you're going to get burned?" With that, she tackled him and pounded him mercilessly with both of her fists.   
  
"C'mon, Spinelli, knock it off," T.J. commanded, ripping the angry girl away from the now-terrified fifth-grader.   
  
"Sorry, Teej, but that's a double offense - using my first name and calling me a girl?!" Spinelli lunged at Lawson again, but T.J. held her back by her jacket.  
  
"How about," T.J. replied through gritted teeth, "you take his stupid dare and prove to him and the whole world that his superstition is just that - a stupid-stition." Spinelli looked at her friend as though he'd flipped his lid.  
  
"What do I look like… Lawson?" Spinelli mocked Lawson, who was dusting himself off.  
  
"I don't think so, Spinelli," Mikey put in, obviously missing the sarcasm and attemping to make Spinelli feel better by visually comparing her to Lawson.   
  
"Shut up, Mikey," Spinelli barked, turning back to T.J.  
  
"C'mon, Spinelli," Vince La Salle spoke up. "You're not… scared, are you?" To Spinell, it came as a challenge. She narrowed her eyebrows.  
  
"No way in hell," she shot back, turning to Lawson. "You're on. I'll stand on the damn grave." Lawson raised his eyebrows.  
  
"You got yourself a deal, Shrimp-nelli. You be there at the Third Street Cemetery tonight, midnight, and we'll see if you're a chicken or not."  
  
"NOT!" Spinelli yelled after him. "I"LL BE THERE!" She turned to her friends. "You guys gonna watch?" The gang exchanged a five-way glance.   
  
"Well…" T.J. said slowly. "Are we ever!"  



	2. Strange Happenings at the Cemetery

CHaPTeR TWo - STRaNGe HaPPeNiNGS aT THe CeMeTeRY  
  
Third Street Cemetery, eleven fifty-five p.m.  
  
  
"So who didn't show?" Spinelli asked from her perch on a bench near the headstones of the Third family. She could make out four shapes approaching her; one short and sort of stocky; one tall and gangly; one tall and well-built; and the last tall and skinny. By seeing the shapes, she could guess that joining her were T.J., Gretchen, Vince, and Lawson.  
  
"Mikey and Gus," T.J. replied.   
  
"They got scared," Lawson laughed. "Like you're going to in just a few minutes, Spin-scaredy-cat!" He cackled.  
  
"Why you - " Spinelli started, but T.J. stepped in between her and Lawson.  
  
"Let's not add another person to the cemetery tonight, eh, Spinelli? Kill him later. While he's asleep." He winked at her. She scowled.   
  
"Let's just get this show on the road," Spinelli replied, standing up and heading over to the grave of Thaddeus T. Third the Third. "What time is it?"  
  
"Eleven fifty-eight. Almost time for your debut, Spin-scaredy," Lawson told her meanly. She scowled again and stood behind the grave, ready to step up onto it at the stroke of midnight.   
  
"I bet you a dollar she chickens out," Vince whispered behind his hand to Gretchen. Gretchen rolled her eyes.  
  
"Have faith," Gretchen replied, turning her eyes on Spinelli.   
  
Eleven fifty-nine. All eyes were on Lawson's light-up watch, following the second hand past the six, the nine, the ten, the eleven…   
  
The seconds were ticking off Spinelli's fate - whether or not she'd be deemed cowardly or courageous for the rest of her life - and finally the second hand struck the twelve, as far away the Town Clock Tower began sounding. All eyes shifted to Spinelli as she took a deep breath and stood up on to the grave -  
  
- and time seemed to stand still, as she stood there for an entire moment, bathed in the light of the moonlight. Lawson looked upset that his superstition had been proved false - and worse yet that Spinelli wasn't drier than a desert - meaning she was still fully functional and able to kick the snot out of him.  
  
Without warning, the clouds rolled in from all directions, greedily gobbling up the moon and its light. A blanket of darkness fell upon the cemetery, leaving Spinelli standing alone on a grave on a full-moon Friday the 13th.  
  
As soon as the clouds had killed the moon, thunder began to growl angrily from above. Before anyone could do a thing, a crack of lighting fell on the ground behind the grave of Thaddeus T. Third the Third, and Spinelli could feel its electric current run through the ground, through the stone, and continuing into her…  
  
…in a split second, she saw not her own life, but Thaddeus T. Third the Third's life pass before her eyes, and knew instantly that Lawson's superstition was true. And as her head began to spin, she distantly heard a man's scratchy voice in her mind…  
  
"Why have you come? Do you not know what will become of you because of this, foolish one?"  
  
Spinelli wanted to cry out, to say she hadn't known, but she felt herself to weak to move.   
  
"Why do you strive always to be so strong, young one? Must you always insist that you can take care of yourself? You must know deep down that you will not always be able to be so strong. So, in order to teach you how to depend on others, I'm going to make you into the thing you fear the most - a girl."  
  
Spinelli knew, as she heard the voice, that her worst nightmare was about to come true for the second time. In her mind, she heard herself screaming "no" over and over again, but she made no sound.   
  
Another crack of lightning sliced the air, and Ashley Spinelli lost her balance at the same instant that T.J. Detweiler saw her fall. Making a superhuman lunge, he caught her gently in his arms. She seemed half-conscious, although she looked up at him with pleading dark brown eyes.   
  
"Spinelli! Spinelli! Are you okay?" he asked her softly. She smiled up at him, a smile much too large and bright for a girl like her.   
  
"Hey, Spinelli, what was it like?" Vince asked from behind T.J.  
  
Spinelli parted her lips, eyes almost completely closed. "It was… scandalous."  
  
And Ashley Spinelli fell unconscious in T.J. Detweiler's arms, as T.J., Gretchen Grundler, Vince La Salle, and Irwin Lawson exchanged horrified glances. They were all thinking the same thing.  
  
Did she just say "scandalous"?  



	3. Pink

CHaPTeR THRee - PiNK  
  
Third Street Elementary, following Monday before school  
  
  
T.J. Detweiler had had the chance to fill Gus Griswold and Mikey Blumberg in on the strange happenings in the cemetery on Friday, of course leaving out the part about Spinelli falling in his arms - he'd tried to keep that to himself. Both Mikey and Gus agreed that it was very strange - however neither of them quite believed T.J. when he'd declared that Spinelli had said "scandalous".   
  
T.J. waited up against a chain-link fence with Gretchen, Gus, Mikey, and Vince. Spinelli had not yet arrived, and the five of them dreaded her arrival. They didn't know if Spinelli would be acting Ashley or not - or if the strange usage of the Ashleys' catchword was just an aftershock of her time spent on the grave of Thaddeus T. Third the Third. But they soon would find out…  
  
Ashley Spinelli was approaching… her hair was down, loose around her shoulders, and moussed… she was wearing eyeliner, lipstick, and high-heeled shoes… she was wearing fake nails, painted with sparkly nail polish… and worst of all, she was in a miniskirt. A pink miniskirt.  
  
And the problem with that was that she didn't seem to care.  
  
At the same time, the jaws of the five up against the chainlink fence dropped so low they could have hit the ground. Disbelief and amazement ran through T.J. as he saw her. He had never seen Spinelli in pink before - but she looked as good as one of those models in his sister's beauty magazines. For some odd reason, he found he couldn't take his eyes off her.  
  
He even failed to notice the weasely form hiding in the bushes.  
  
"Spinelli," Gus said, "what are you doing wearing pink?"  
  
"Spinelli?" Spinelli sneered back. "The name's Ashley. A-S-H-L-E-Y. Learn it well." She pranced past her shocked friends. "Now if you'll excuse me, I've got to go see the Ashleys." She raised an eyebrow. "Time to re-collect on their offer to make me 'one of them'."  
  
Gus, Mikey, Vince, and Gretchen were all feeling shocked and bit scared - but it was nothing like T.J. was feeling. He'd never felt that way about a girl, not since he was forced into kissing Spinelli, but he liked it. He stood staring after her for a few moments, in which his remaining friends noticed.   
  
"Uh, T.J., are you in there?" Vince asked, waving a hand in front of his face. "Are you alive! Hello… Hel-LOOOOOO!!!" Vince sighed impatiently. "TEEEEEEE-JAAAAAY!" he yelled. With a start, T.J. snapped from his trance. "Well, who'd'a thought it? T.J.'s falling for an Ashley."  
  
T.J. felt his face burn. "Am not," he protested, but by the look in Vince's eyes, he knew Vince wasn't convinced.   
  
"So what are we going to do about Spinelli, T.J.?" Gus asked.   
  
"I don't know," T.J. replied, sounding helpless for once in his life.  
  
Meanwhile, behind them, Randall Weems poked his head out of the bushes. "This is extra-moist," he murmured to himself. "Spinelli just turned Ashley, and T.J. Detweiler has a crush on her!" Randall thought for a moment. "Time to do some serious damage." He cackled to himself and headed off toward the Ashley Clubhouse.  
  
~~~  
  
The Ashleys would not have accepted Spinelli into the club again if she were not wearing pink. It was the entrance of Spinelli into their clubhouse wearing pink that shocked them into believing that Spinelli was Ashley again - even if T.J. Detweiler was planning a plot, he would have never gotten Ashley Spinelli to wear pink in her conscious.  
  
They re-deemed Spinelli 'Ashley S' and set to making another diabolical plan, when a voice from on top of the clubhouse coming from a megaphone sounded. "Kids of the playground! Kids of the playground! Please gather at the Ashley Clubhouse for a special announcement!"  
  
"That is, like, not allowed," Ashley A said irritably, heading toward the long tube that served as an entrance and an exit to the clubhouse. By the time Ashley A reached the top, Randall Weems was yelling in his microphone again.  
  
"Kids of the Playground!" he shouted as the original four Ashleys made a line in front of the entrance of their clubhouse. "Ashley Spinelli is wearing PINK!" At these words, Spinelli stepped out into the daylight, causing gasps among the crowd of kids. "AND T.J. DETWEILER IS IN LOVE WITH HER!" This announcement caused uproarious laughter through the kids. They turned to T.J., laughed and pointed, as his face grew redder every second until it matched the color of his backwards hat.   
  
"Like, EWWWW!" the Ashleys exclaimed. Spinelli looked shocked, but not in a good way. She looked two seconds away from throwing up.   
  
"It's okay, girl," Ashley Q comforted. "You'll get over it!"  
  
Ashley A looked up at Randall on top of the tires and proceeded to climb gracefully to the top. "GET OFF!" she screamed, pushing with the heel of her palm on Randall's shoulder and causing him to fall off the tires. She grabbed the megaphone, and before speaking into it, she pulled a bottle of perfume from her pocket and sprayed it down until she was satisfied it was 'disinfected'. "Kids of the Playground!" her voice boomed throughout the playground. "I give you, for, like, the second time, Ashley S!"   
  
This announcement was accompanied by another bout of gasps from the kids. Less than twenty yards away sat King Bob in his chair, his fingers massaging his forehead in worry and concentration. His murmur was heard by his henchmen, and would be a sound of impending doom - "Not another Ashley…"  



	4. Girl-Liker Camp?

  
CHaPTeR FouR - GiRL-LiKeR CaMP?  
  
Third Street Elementary, following Tuesday, ten a.m. recess  
  
  
Of all the Ashleys, so far, Ashley Spinelli was turning out to be the most diabolical by far. She had dreamed up so many schemes that eventually would lead to the Ashleys' takeover of the playground… in sixth grade. For now, though, the five girls were cooking up an idea hatched when Ashley S asked one little question…  
  
How come we're boy-likers, but no boys are girl-likers?  
  
Well, the girls were out to change that by making every boy in fourth, fifth, and sixth grade attend a "Girl-Liker Camp" in which they would learn how to like girls - by the Ashleys strapping them to chairs and making them look at beauty magazines and watch chick-flicks starring Julia Roberts or Nicole Kidman. And the price for the boys to pay for not attending the camp was worse than actually attending it - even though the Ashleys all agreed it was a "yucky business", they would kiss the boys if they refused to attend the camp.   
  
The Ashleys had announced their hostile takeover of the upper-class boys at the end of the last recess on that Tuesday. There was a widespread feeling among the older boys that they wouldn't much like the coming days.  
  
The next morning, the older boys were rounded up by the Ashleys and led to an area near their clubhouse where they'd set up portable TV's and VCR's for the boys to watch chick flicks, and reading areas, complete with ropes, for the beauty magazines. Each Ashley acted as a counselor and made sure that all the boys were behaving.  
  
In Ashley S's group were King Bob and T.J., who sat next to each other at their reading station. Before long, Ashley S was involved in scolding a short fourth grade boy for not reading a magazine, so it left T.J. and King Bob free to talk and scheme, all the while aimlessly flipping pages every few minutes or so.  
  
"This is a nightmare," King Bob whispered.  
  
"Tell me about it. This seriously whomps," T.J. answered.  
  
"What happened to the old Spinelli?" King Bob asked wondrously.  
  
"Well, you're not gonna believe this, but this is how it all started…" and quietly, T.J. launched into the story of the dare, the cemetery, and the aftermath. After T.J. finished, King Bob drew a long breath.  
  
"You caught her?" he asked.  
  
"Don't bring it up," T.J. pleaded. King Bob smirked, but knew better than to force it. Besides, he wasn't that dumb; he'd seen Spinelli and T.J. flirting since back when they were in first grade.  
  
"You wanna get her back to normal?" King Bob asked.  
  
"More than anything!" T.J. said, a bit too loud. Ashley S looked up, but they quickly turned to their magazines.  
  
"Let's rally the kids of the playground against the Ashleys and demand that they let her go," Bob suggested. "Let's try that ID card thing you cooked up last time."  
  
"Nope, won't work this time. None of the Ashleys will invite us into the club," T.J. said defeatedly. King Bob thought for a moment, and then his face brightened.   
  
"I have an idea," he said, and then raised his hand. Ashley S noticed.  
  
"What do you want, your highness?" Ashley S bit.   
  
"I was just wondering," he replied, "do you Ashleys like to kiss boys yet?" Ashley S's face twisted in disgust.  
  
"No, of course not! Not until middle school!" she snapped, returning to scolding the fourth grade boy.  
  
King Bob turned to T.J., one eyebrow raised. In an instant, T.J. realized what King Bob was thinking. "No. Absolutely not."  
  
"But T.J., maybe it'll shock her into being her old self again," King Bob pleaded.  
  
"Yeah, and maybe it'll shock me into insanity," T.J. replied sarcastically.  
  
"Look at it this way," King Bob pointed out, "do you want to be stuck here, tied to chairs, reading beauty magazines with pink pages and watching chick flicks with kissing in every scene?" T.J. cringed.  
  
"No, but---"   
  
"T.J., you may be our only hope!"  
  
"Great, you just had to say that," T.J. mumbled. "You do it."  
  
"I'm not the one who likes her," King Bob retorted. "You're the only man, er, boy, for the job." T.J. sighed, defeated.  
  
"Fine, but you owe me big time," T.J. relented.  
  
"If this goes as well as planned, the rewards will pay for themselves," King Bob replied with a smirk.   
  
"You're sick," T.J. replied.  



	5. The Kiss

CHaPTeR FiVe - THe KiSS  
  
Third Street Elementary, following Wednesday, before school  
  
  
  
T.J. Detweiler waited silently in the shadows of the building, like Butch the Legend Spreader always did, moping around in corners, hiding in the shadows, although T.J. that day had a very different purpose than Butch did. On that morning, T.J. had agreed to kiss Ashley Spinelli to try and save the playground from turmoil.   
  
T.J. prepped himself for what he was about to do, but no prep time would ever be enough for this. His time was cut short - Ashley S was approaching.   
  
As she passed the shadows, T.J. reached out, fluidly catching her around the waist with one arm and clamping his hand over her mouth with the other before she could let out a scream. He dragged her back into the shadows, pushing her up against the wall, releasing his grip around her waist but keeping his hand over her mouth. "Hear me out," he said softly. She nodded, eyes wide with some sort of fear.  
  
"All this time… since Friday… you've been acting like an Ashley… you've been an Ashley… and I can't handle that - and none of the guys out there can. You gotta come back," T.J. pleaded. Ashley S shook her head no.  
  
T.J. took a deep breath. "I didn't wanna have to do this, but…" He let his hand drop to her shoulder, and before she could make a sound had placed his lips on hers. She didn't believe it for the first few seconds, but after a long moment and T.J. still had not pulled away, she began feeling her life, her old life, coming back to her. And she realized, all the while feeling T.J.'s kiss (which, she thought, was rather good for only a second time kisser), that she hated the makeup, and the pink clothes, and the girly junk, and wanted nothing more than to go back. She closed her eyes and returned his kiss, knowing that when their lips parted she would no longer be Ashley S, but Spinelli again.  
  
At long last, the moment came when T.J.'s lips left Spinelli's, and he looked into her eyes and saw the beautiful sparkle he once saw when she was Spinelli, and knew he'd won her back. "That was gross," she stated, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. She looked at him for a moment longer, and then without warning, Spinelli planted a soft kiss on his lips. She pulled away a few seconds later, as though she were shy.  
  
"I thought you said that was gross," T.J. said, grinning.  
  
"It was," Spinelli replied, also grinning.  
  
"So why'd you kiss me again?"  
  
"Do I have to give you a reason for everything I do? Now let me go," she said, walking around him out into the open daylight. Momentarily worried, T.J. followed her until she reached the Ashley Clubhouse. "Hey, you Ashleys!" Spinelli yelled. "You can run your stupid boy camp without a fifth counselor - either that or don't run it at all! I'm blowin' this popsicle stand and it ain't gonna be pretty if you try and stop me!" And Ashley Spinelli stormed away from the Ashley Clubhouse, vowing to never be one of those preppy girls again… And she never did.  
  
She came to a stop beside T.J. They both stared at the Ashley Clubhouse, where the Ashleys were scowling at Spinelli. She shrugged and turned to T.J.  
  
"T.J.?" she asked.  
  
"Yeah?" he replied.  
  
"Don't ever let me do that again," he told him.  
  
"What? Kiss me?" T.J. asked.  
  
"No, that part I don't mind so much… Don't ever let me stand on a gravestone again," Spinelli replied.  
  
"I think I can handle that… Ashley," T.J. replied, grinning.   
  
"The name's Spinelli, and don't you forget it," she replied forcefully, shaking a fist at him while a delicate smile played on her lips. The two smiled at each other, knowing that in the months ahead, there would be some romantic developing in store for them.   
  
From behind them came Irwin Lawson, still bent on his "power" over Spinelli. "How are you doing, Ashley?" Lawson mocked, prancing around, trying to act like a prima donna. Spinelli just smiled at him, and then without warning, reared back and delivered a left to his eye so hard it knocked him to the ground, out cold.   
  
"I'm just fine, Irwin," she replied, smirking.  



	6. Epilogue - Worthy of an Ashley

ePiLoGue - WoRTHY oF aN aSHLeY  
  
The Residence of Ashley Spinelli, that Wednesday, after school  
  
  
Ashley Spinelli opened the door to her bedroom and stepped inside, feeling strange yet amazed. She had just been re-transformed into Spinelli from Ashley S, a dreaded member of the Ashleys, by a kiss from her crush, T.J. Detweiler. Now there was the luminous possibility of she and T.J. becoming a couple before middle school… but nothing was for sure yet.  
  
Spinelli opened her window before going over to her full length mirror. The sight in her mirror was something that would shock her forever - she was wearing pink. She let out a scream worthy of an Ashley - one that could have broken windows…  
  
…or eardrums.  
  
Three houses away, on the front porch of the Detweiler house, T.J. Detweiler laughed as he heard a scream that could only mean that Ashley Spinelli had figured out that she was wearing pink.  
  
  
  
  
Questions? Comments? Concerns? Compliments? Flames? All may be sent to KD Wild (sharknomore@aol.com) or Lily Rose (witchik321@aol.com  



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